Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen | solitude.dk

Earlier today I finished reading Michael Verdi and Ryanne Hodson's new book Secrets of Videoblogging. I didn't learn much, but I didn't expect to.

Let me say this right away: Secrets of Videoblogging is a fantastic introduction to the world of videoblogging. I've been wanting a book to recommend starting videobloggers and it's finally here. In these eight short chapters a complete newcomer will learn everything they have to in order to get started:

1. Exploring Videoblogs
2. Finding Your Story
3. Checking Your Toolbox
4. Shooting Video
5. Editing for Vlogs
6. Compression 101
7. Vlog
8. Attracting an Audience

Generally speaking the book is a very easy read. Even those without strong English skills will have no trouble understanding the book, a huge plus for me since everyone around me is Danish! Secrets is also light on text in general and generously use large illustrations. That's especially a plus in the chapters that deal with screenshots from various software and websites (like iMovie).

I was particularily impressed with the chapter on shooting video which has simple, practical and clever tips on working with your camera and the chapter on editing which managed to make a very complex issue manageable without sounding patronizing.

It takes only takes an evening to read through the book, but you can get a better use of the book by reading the later chapters at the computer while following along. I'd recommend reading the first five chapters before shooting any video and then return to the book when you're ready to edit your first video.

Two minor things annoyed me about the book. First off none of the URLs in the book are highlighted, so they are hard to find when skimming the text and it's sometimes confusing to figure out when a URL ends if it spans over a line break. It wouldn't have hurt to bold or underline URLs. Secondly the terms videoblog and vlog (and vloggin/videoblogging, vlogger/videoblogger) are used interchangeably in the book. It's annoying to read and I think they would have been better off picking one term and sticking with it.

Existing videobloggers don't have much to gain from this book. The chapter on compression can function as a reference, but other than that there's little value. I warmly recommend this book to anyone starting their first videoblog.